I applied online. The process took 2 weeks. I interviewed at Pinterest in Oct 2016
Interview
I applied online for the intern position. Got invited to complete an online coding challenge which consisted of 2 Python questions and 1 SQL question. The recruiter then contacted within a week saying I'm in for the first technical round. The interviewer was really nice and clearly explained the required outputs for both the coding questions. I got an email next day saying I cleared round one and got scheduled for 2nd technical round the next week. Although I expected to get a coding question but the interviewer this time asked a design oriented problem related to search query expansion for the Pinterest search bar. Got a reject email 3 days later saying the fit was not appropriate at this point of time.
Interview questions [2]
Question 1
Find the count of downstream users for any given user in a directed graph.
Given a set of pins with attributes (pin id, height), write a function that takes the argument 'k' (determining the number of columns) and inserts the pins such that every pin goes into a column with least consumed height. If there is a tie then insert into the left most column
1st round technical phone screening with in 1 hour.
One follow up question was asked.
The problem was not too hard, but it requires you finish really fast without bugs.
Interview questions [1]
Question 1
Leetcode 1564. Put Boxes Into the Warehouse I.
Follow up: what is maximum total box sizes.
Recruiter call, tech round, onsite and rejection call. They sent me an email about a week after the last onsite and asked me to schedule a call on the same day. I scheduled a call to listen 30 second long rejection notice. A half of interview rounds were horrible. Interviewers were not prepared and arrogant.
Good experience not the best outcome. Was 1000% sure I completed all coding and sys design but was told didn't get enough signal for the competency round. Overall very organized but not very satisfied with the response.
